Shoe heel, particularly for men&#39;s footwear and ladies&#39; sports footwear



Aug. 9, 1966 3,264,762

P.. RIGON SHOE HEEL, PARTICULARLY FOR MEN'S FOOTWEAR AND LADIES SPORTS FOOTWEAR Filed Oct. 10, 1963 IN VENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,264,762 SHOE HEEL, PARTICULARLY FOR MENS FOOT- WEAR AND LADIES SPORTS FOOTWEAR Pietro Rigon, 8 Viale S. Lazzaro, Vicenza, Italy Filed Oct. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 315,255 Claims priority, application Italy, Oct. 27, 1962, 21,525/ 62 6 Claims. (CI. 36-34) This invention relates to shoe heels and refers more particularly to shoe heels constituting parts of mens footwear and ladies sports footwear.

Shoe heels having a wide base are now made in the shape of a block consisting of several superposed layers of leather which are pressed together so as to impart to it the characteristic hollowed out shape. A lower layer of rubber or leather is fixed to the block by gluing or by nails.

The drawbacks of such heels consist in that they have considerable weight and require substantial manufacturing costs; in addition, since the separate layers of leather are visible at the sides of heel, the finishing of these side surfaces of the heel requires a substantial amount of labor. Another drawback is that after some wear the heel may become deformed since the various layers have different degrees of expansion and have the tendency to become detached from each other.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks of prior art constructions.

Other objects will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

In the accomplishment of the objectives of the present invention it was found desirable to provide a shoe heel having a wide base, which is not made solely of superposed layers of leather, but which comprises a strong shell of a plastic material, preferably polypropylene, the sides of the shell being covered by strips of leather.

A heel constructed in this manner in accordance with the present invention has the advantage that it is considerably lighter than prior art heels; furthermore, the manufacturing costs and the costs of attaching the heel to the shoe are substantially reduced. A further important advantage consists in that the heel of the present invention does not become deformed after use, so that the entire rear portion of the shoe retains its original shape even after extensive wear. The outer covering of leather makes it possible to clean the heel easily.

The use of a plastic material for the shell, particularly poly-propylene, provides easy nailing of the lower layer of rubber or leather to the shell. However, the lower layer, as well as the leather side coverings, can be easily glued to the shell by many adhesives now available on the market.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing by way of example, preferred embodiments of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a cross section through a heel constructed in accordance with the present invention, along the line A-B of FIG. 2.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the heel.

. 3,264,762 Patented August 9, 1966 FIGURE 3 is a section through a differently constructed heel.

FIGURE 4 shows in perspective disassembled parts of the heel of FIG. 3.

Throughout the following description, similar parts are indicated by the same letters.

The heel shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a shell a consisting of a plastic material, preferably polypropylene, which is provided with inner radial ribs b and central ribs 0 which extend vertically so as to transmit pressure from the lower layer or wear lift g to the shoe.

The shell a has a base 01 carrying sections e of greater thickness than the other portions of the shell. The sections 2 receive nails which attach the wear lift g to the shell a and/or nails 1 which attach the shell a to the shoe.

Leather strips h and i cover the sides and the front of the shell a and are firmly attached thereto. This construction presents a grained surface to the visible sides of the heel which can be easily cleaned.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a somewhat differently constructed heel, wherein the sides of the shell a are covered by narrow leather strips k k k and k, which are placed edge to edge and firmly glued to the shell. This construction has the outer appearance of the usual leather heel.

It is apparent that the examples described above, particularly as far as the shape and arrangements of the inner ribs of the shell are concerned, are subject to many variations and modifications with-out departing from the scope of the present invention which consists essentially in providing a heel with a central shell of plastic material, preferably polypropylene.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe heel, comprising a plastic shell having a base, sides integral with said base and enclosing a hollow space, ribs integral with said base and extending perpendicularly to said base, said ribs being located within said space, leather strips covering said sides and firmly connected therewith, and a wear lift firmly connected with said base, said base extending between said ribs and said wear lift.

2. A shoe heel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said shell consists of polypropylene.

3. A shoe heel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said leather strips have outer grain surfaces.

4. A shoe heel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said leather strips consist of a plurality of superimposed layers.

5. A shoe heel in accordance with claim 1, wherein said ribs form separate compartments within said hollow space.

6. A shoe heel in accordance with claim 5, wherein said base comprises sections of greater and smaller thickness, the sections of greater thickness being located in some of said compartments.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,718,177 6/1929 Nutt 36-34 2,198,228 4/1940 Pinaud et al 3635 2,985,920 5/1961 Borroif et a1. 36-35 X FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SHOE HEEL, COMPRISING A PLASTIC SHELL HAVING A BASE, SIDES INTEGRAL WITH SAID BASE AND ENCLOSING A HOLLOW SPACE, RIBS INTEGRAL WITH SAID BASE AND EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY TO SAID BASE, SAID RIBS BEING LOCATED WITHIN SAID SPACE, LEATHER STRIPS COVERING SAID SIDES AND FIRMLY CONNECTED THEREWITH, AND A WEAR LIFT FIRMLY CONNECTED WITH SAID BASE, SAID BASE EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID RIBS AND SAID WEAR LIFT. 